Actress Iyabo Ojo recently opened an amala joint called Abula Spot for all lovers of the local delicacy.
Iyabo ventured into the hospitality business and became a food vendor just to rake in more cash.
Many people wondered how she got money to acquire the two-storey building where her joint was situated and tongues started wagging.
But the actress is not one who would allow people ruin her latest venture with negative talks and gossips. She revealed that she sold her land and gold jewellery in order to achieve her dreams of being a food vendor.
According to the actress, “I did not collect a loan to open my business, I saved. I had been planning to open this place for a very long time, so I had been saving. When I wanted to get my new office building, I sold some of my property. I sold almost almost all my gold. I told myself to forget about gold for now because I know that I can make the money back later. With the support of good people as well, I was able to get my office building,” she said.
Even though her fans are happy for her, some of them are scared that her food business might take her away from their screens. But Iyabo Ojo assured them that selling amala can never make her quit acting. As a very organized person, she has everything planned out. But she won’t be filming for a month or two so that she can nurture her business.
Ojo now refers to herself as ‘Iya alamala’ (amala seller) and she is not ashamed to sell food that some people perceive to be local. She noted that as a local chic who made a name for herself by acting in her local dialect which is Yoruba language, and in her culture, amala is the in-thing.
The actress is proud to be selling amala because it is her culture. The tweak she gave the business of selling amala was to transform something perceived to be local to the Island and made it look posh. People really long to eat amala and she is not ashamed to be selling it.
Ojo opened the Abula Spot because she noticed that there was no place amala lovers could get the local dish on the Island.